The Women’s Premier League has come to a close, with Mumbai Indians Women having been crowned as the inaugural champions of the tournament. It’s time now for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to take the centre stage, with the first match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans set to kick off on March 31 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, will commence their tournament campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 1 at Chinnaswamy Stadium. After a forgettable season last year that saw them finish at the bottom of the points table, they will be hoping for a much-improved performance this time around.
They have strengthened their squad through the IPL 2023 auction, bringing in star international players such as Cameron Green. The Australian all-rounder is expected to provide some much-needed batting firepower at the top of the order, an area where the team struggled last season, while Jofra Archer is set to play the entire season after missing out the last couple of seasons due to injury.
Mumbai Indians, however, faced a major setback before the start of the season as their key fast bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson, have been ruled out of the tournament. The team is yet to name their replacements. After careful consideration of the available players, we have compiled the strongest starting XI of Mumbai Indians for the upcoming tournament:
Strongest Playing XI of Mumbai Indians (MI)
- Openers: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk)
- Middle Order: Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Ramandeep Singh
- Bowlers: Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff
Analysis:
Mumbai Indians’ batting lineup has gotten a major boost this year, particularly in the top order, with Cameron Green joining the team. The middle order is also looking strong with Tim David and Ramandeep Singh, who can be relied upon to steady the innings. With David capable of finishing matches on his own, Mumbai will look to him to fill the shoes of the great Kieron Pollard.
Their bowling attack seems to have lost some of its strength with only Jofra Archer remaining as their most reliable option. The performance of Jason Behrendorff, who will be bowling alongside Jofra Archer, will be crucial to their success. While their spin attack seems promising, they may be vulnerable to strong opposition on occasion.
Mumbai Indians (MI) Squad for IPL 2023:
Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal
